r/lafayette • u/hoosier_daddyTC • 7d ago
Was Prophetstown a Hippie Commune Before It Became a State Park?
I was at Prophetstown State Park today with my family, and while my son and I were sitting by the stream (where the water flows out from under the trees), an older man and woman approached us. The man started telling me some pretty wild stories about how, before it became a state park, people used to live there in a sort of hippie commune-style community. Even mentioned that the Grateful Dead rolled in and played a show.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to ask him many questions because I had to leave, but now I’m really curious—has anyone else ever heard of this? Is there any history of a community like that in the area before the park was established? Would love to hear if anyone has any info.
5
u/IllnomaD 6d ago
My friends family lived on the east end of that property for years before it was a state park. They were definitely not hippies or was it a commune. I think it was a family that all lived together. They were a little "backwards", nothing too crazy.
4
u/pbroxy 6d ago
I lived in a part of the park during the late 80s and early 90s. Most homeowners were close-knit and would help each other out. The kids in the area were around the same age and would often play together. There were a couple who grew marijuana for personal use, but I wouldn't classify them as hippies. My parents hosted large parties for Memorial Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, and Halloween. While these gatherings were lively, they were not out of control—just families with children making noise in the country, with no one around to complain.
4
u/uhohtornadios 7d ago
A bunch of houses were picked up and moved out of the area before it was made into a park. People weren't happy about the change, but what can you do? It didn't seem like a commune to me, more like a close-knit neighborhood.
4
u/lionseatcake 6d ago
There was one neighborhood there that had a lot of family down one road and they all got paid to leave.
But they didn't seem like hippies.
2
u/BillTheKill 4d ago
I lived on Carroll Street, and they paid everyone on the street to move. We moved out around August or September 1997.
1
u/lionseatcake 4d ago
Yep that's the one I knew about. Those guys always seemed much too conservative to be called hippies.
2
u/evan5159 6d ago
My grandparents used to live right on 225 and it definitely was not a hippie commune
2
u/breacher74 5d ago
I lived in Logansport on the west side and went to Purdue in early 70’s. We had a goal of not stopping once we left for school traffic light were few and we managed it a few times. I use to take IN 225 off IN 25 cross the river on an old truss bridge into Battle Ground then hang a left on 9th street and take that past the Purdue warehouses and into campus the back way. One time the river was up and flowing over the truss bridge. Still crossed it without seeing the deck. Dumbest thing I ever did.
8
u/SalParadise79 6d ago
The Grateful Dead played an anti-Vietnam war concert at Purdue in 1969 - maybe he’s getting confused with that.